Take me out to the Ballgame!
by abiholmes97
Summary: Jessica Rossi loves baseball. The good news is, so does her father. So he buys her baseball tickets for her birthday!


I _love_ baseball. Like, I'm not kidding. I _love_ it! When I was a kid, I did a little bit of dance when I was four maybe five but after that I played baseball. I was in the little league and everything. Baseball was my life. I never missed a game- or I never tried to. Ashley and I would have sleepovers at each other's houses and if we couldn't make a sleepover, we'd call each other and talk about the match while it was happening.

My dad, Dave, was also a big baseball fan. He supported the Chicago cubs, purely because a friend of his in Vietnam did and he was killed in action. Dad supported the cubs ever since. When I moved into Dad's house, we would watch the baseball together, much to mom's annoyance. He even got me a signed mitt and bat for my eighteen birthday.

When I turned twenty, Dad bought me tickets to watch the Yankees play the cubs in New York. I remember I squealed with delight when I opened the envelope. I had never been to a live match before, I had only ever watched one on TV. To say I was excited was an understatement.

The day before the match, I swung by the BAU offices to say hi to the team and to run through somethings with my Dad. The team had changed rapidly in recent years. Hotch was no longer there, Emily Prentiss was the Unit Chief, Morgan had left to be with his new family, Walker had been killed and Simmons had joined from the IRT. But they were still my family and I loved them all. I walked in through the big double doors and into the ball pen. Reid was sat at his desk, engrossed in another medical journal; JJ was in Emily's office, Tara and Luke were over by the coffee station and Matt was with Pen in the conference room. I headed over to Luke and Tara.

"Hey guys!"

"Hey Jess!" said Tara, smiling and she gave me a hug.

"What brings you in this morning?" asked Luke, high-fiving me.

"I came in to say hi to the team. I don't see you all that often now I'm away at college. Plus, I wanted to chat to Dad about tomorrow."

"Oh yeah. It's the big game tomorrow!" said Tara, "Are you excited?"

"Excited? Whose excited and what for?" Penelope Garcia had come over to the coffee station where we had all stood.

"Jess has got her big baseball trip tomorrow!" said Luke.

"Oh, that's right. It's Yankees against the Cubs, right?" asked Matt.

I nodded.

"Who is more excited, you or your Dad?" asked JJ who had also wandered over. She helped herself to some coffee.

I laughed, "I think it's a close fifty-fifty!" My smile fell, just for a second.

"What's wrong?" asked Prentiss.

I shook my head, "Its nothing, I'm just being silly."

"What is it?" asked Luke.

I sighed. I was surrounded by the best profilers in the country. There was no way I was getting out of this one.

"This is the first thing I've done like this with Dad." I replied, taking a sudden interest in the nail on my left index finger.

"And your worried about how it's going to go?" asked Tara, smiling.

I nodded. "I'm being silly right?"

"It's ok to be nervous. You and Rossi have only really been getting to know each other as father and daughter for five years. It's a completely natural response." Said JJ.

"Totally!" added Luke and Matt, smiling.

"But you'll be fine. It's Rossi and baseball and you!" said Penelope.

I smiled, "That's true!" I replied, "Apart from Ash, I never knew anyone who was into baseball as much as me."

"You guys will have a great time." Chipped in Tara.

"Rossi probably didn't want to tell you this, but he's been thinking about buying those tickets for a while now, he's just been waiting for the right time." Said Emily.

"He's probably as nervous as you are, Jess." Added JJ.

I sighed in relief. "Thanks guys. As much as I am nervous, I'm more excited."

"No worries!" smiled Luke, "You're going to have an amazing time!"

I smiled widely, "I know!" and I left them to go and find Dad.

Dad was sat in his office, looking down at a photo frame. I knocked on the door and pushed it open tentatively.

"Hey Dad!" I said, walking up to the desk, "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Your mom framed this photo of you for me." He held it up. It was a photo from when I was in little league. I was holding the team trophy, having scored the winning home run.

"Ah, man. I haven't seen this photo in years!" I said, smiling.

"You look like you were having fun." He commented.

"Oh yeah! Little league was the best! And when Jason's dark side came out, it was my escape."

Dad smiled sadly. "I'm sorry about him."

"Don't be. Its in the past now. Let's look to the future!"

Dad smiled. "I'm assuming you're referring to tomorrow?" he asked.

I nodded. "I can't wait!"

"Me neither kiddo." He replied, placing the photo back down on his desk. It sat between a photo of mom and one of Joy and I together in California.

"What time are we leaving?" I asked.

"Well, the match starts at 3pm and it'll take us around four hours to get up there. I was thinking of leaving around 7am and maybe getting breakfast from the road?"

I smiled again. "Sounds good to me, pops!"

Dad smiled. I sometimes called him Pops and he used to protest, saying it made him feel old but then, I don't know, its like it started to grow on him.

"Would you mind picking me up from Jack's?" I asked, cautiously.

"Do I want to ask why you're going to Jack's?" he replied, smiling knowingly.

"Well, it's just that Aaron's out of state, visiting his girlfriend in Seattle and I thought that Jack might be lonely…"

"Of course, you did!" Dad laughed to himself. "I'll pick you up from Jack's, but you had better tell that boy that you have an early start!"

"I will do!" I said, leaning over the desk and giving him a kiss. "Love you Dad!" and I headed for the door.

"Wait! Where you going?" he asked.

"Jack's." I replied, looking at him, "I have an early start remember!" and I left the room to the sound of my Dad's laughter.

Before I knew it, Dad was picking me up from the Hotchner residence and we were on our way to New York. We stopped off at Wegmans off the i95 and had a quick breakfast and then we were back on our way. We reached New York just after twelve noon and we wandered around the city. Dad took us for lunch at an Italian restaurant that he loved, and we made our way over to the Yankee Stadium.

"Wow Dad!" I said, as we took our seats. "These seats are amazing!"

"Only the best for my girls first major league baseball game!" he replied.

I rested my shoulder on his head, "Thanks Dad."

He held my hand softly. "You're welcome."

The game was amazing. The Cubs narrowly lost out to the Yankees, losing by one home run. The car ride home was a mix of singing along to Billy Joel or Dean Martin or running through the highlights of the game. I must have nodded off because the next thing I knew, Dad was waking me up, saying that we were just coming through D.C.

We rolled into the driveway just before one in the morning. Dad turned the engine off.

"Thank you for a lovely day Jess." Dad said in the dark car.

I turned to look at him. I could just make out the outline of his face. "Thank you for the tickets." I replied.

"I've really enjoyed spending time with you, Jess. It was nice it just being the two of us for a change."

I smiled. "I enjoyed it too."

"I should really come across the Princeton more. I don't come enough, and I feel like I am letting you down."

I took his hand. "You could never let me down. I understand your workload. I've grown up in that life, so I get it."

"I'm going to come across to Princeton more next semester, Jessie. I promise. I want more days like this where its just you and me."

I smiled, resting my head on his shoulder. "I'd like that very much."

THE END


End file.
